[Rockingham]

The distinguishing consideration is was the woman crazy before she got her first cat? Or did the first cat or two give her toxoplasmosis that prompted a mental decline that led to the dozens of cats and appalling squalor?

Notably, the parasite also infects rats and causes them to become reckless, which in turn makes them easier for cats to catch.

[beckysueb]

Its a possibility. But I have seen these situations before. It usually starts with just one or two and they reproduce and on it goes. Cats can reproduce at an alarming rate. It probably took no more than 3 years to get this many cats, plus she probably took in every stray that came along.